Political History of Ancient India, from the Accession of Parikshit to the Extinction of the Gupta Dynasty c14.s1.25

c14.s1.25

In the sixth century B. C. the Moriyas were the ruling clan of the little republic of Pipphalivana which probably lay between Rummindei in the Nepalese Tarai and Kasia in the Gorakhpur district. They must have been absorbed into the Magadhan empire along with the other states of Eastern India. Tradition avers that they were reduced to great straits in the fourth century B. C., and young Chandragupta grew up among peacock-tamers, herdsmen and hunters in the Vindhyan forest. The classical notices of his encounter with a lion and an elephant accord well with his residence amidst the wild denizens of that sequestered region. During the inglorious reign of Agrammes, when there was general disaffection amongst his subjects, the Moriyas evidently came into prominence, probably under the leadership of **Chandragupta**. These clansmen were no longer rulers and were merely Magadhan subjects. It is, therefore, not at all surprising that Justin calls Chandragupta a man of humble origin. Plutarch, as well as Justin, informs us that Chandragupta paid a visit to Alexander. Plutarch says¹ “Androkottus himself, who was then a lad, saw Alexander himself and afterwards used to declare that Alexander might easily have conquered the whole country, as the then king was hated by his subjects on account of his mean and wicked disposition.” From this passage it is not unreasonable to infer that Chandragupta visited Alexander with the intention of inducing the conqueror to put an end to the rule of the tyrant of Magadha. His conduct may be compared to that of Rānā Saṁgrāma Siṁha who invited Bābur to put an end to the *regime* of Ibrāhīm Lūdī.² Apparently Chandragupta found Alexander as stern a ruler as Agrammes, for we learn from Justin that the Macedonian king did not scruple to give orders to kill the intrepid Indian lad for his boldness of speech.³ The young Maurya apparently thought of ridding his country of both the oppressors, Macedonian as well as Indian. With the help of Kauṭilya, also called Chāṇakya or Vishṇugupta, son of a Brāhmaṇa of Taxila, he is said to have overthrown the infamous Nanda. Traditional accounts of the conflict between Chandragupta and the last Nanda are preserved in the *Milindapañho*, the Purāṇas, the *Mudrārākshasa*, the *Mahāvaṁsa Ṭīkā* and the Jaina *Pariśishṭaparvan*. The *Miliadapañho*¹ tells us that the Nanda army was commanded by Bhaddasāla. The Nanda troops were evidently defeated with great slaughter, an exaggerated account of which is preserved in the *Milindapañho*.